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Josh Smith, AKA "Sm1tty Sm1t" is a Gaming/Tech Writer, podcast host, father, husband and heir to the Kardashian fortune. You can follow him on Twitter @Sm1ttySm1t or check out his podcast at PressAtoListen.com

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PLEASE NOTE, THIS POST AND SUBSEQUENT CHAT WILL DISCUSS INTRICATE DETAILS OF BIOSHOCK INFINITE AND ITS ENDING. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

I finished Bioshock Infinite last night, so I’m writing this prior to starting my review. I’m glad I am though, because last night’s sleep has given me time to mull over the ending that I witnessed. Infinite‘s story revolves around the multiverse theory; that is, there are an infinite number of timelines with an infinite number of possibilities. On this timeline, I am Josh ‘Sm1tty Sm1t’ Smith, government employee, games media, father, husband, etc. On another timeline, I’m Batman. On another, I’m a deranged serial killer. Going from timeline to timeline will present changes in just a fraction of a degree — until you get far enough away from your own timeline that you see major differences. That’s the theory anyway.

The ending to Infinite shows that Booker Dewitt, the character you’re playing as, discovers that he handed over his daughter to help wipe away his gambling debt. That daughter ends up being Elizabeth, the very woman you’re trying to save throughout the entire story. To compound that mind-blowing realization, you also discover that you are also Comstock, the game’s antagonist. What happened was that in Booker Dewitt’s timeline, he refused baptism after the Battle of Wounded Knee — which forced himself to deal with his sins. In another timeline, Booker accepts baptism, is washed clean, and takes on a new name to go with his new life: Comstock.

It’s all very thought provoking and is a twist that we’ve perhaps never seen in gaming to this point. There is a hole though, one that’s been nagging at me. If Dewitt had a daughter capable of the power that Elizabeth has, then handed him over to Comstock, essentially what he’s done is handed his daughter over to himself, only from another timeline. The question then is, how did Comstock get to Dewitt’s timeline?!

Because Comstock was baptized, he never dealt with his sins, therefore was never married and never had a daughter to hand over. One might argue that the brother/sister duo that hauntingly plagues the game created a machine to open a tear in order to get Dewitt to hand over his daughter. So the question then is: How does anybody know of Elizabeth’s power? Comstock’s wife never had a baby — she was sterile by all accounts.

Ultimately there is a question to be asked: How did Comstock know of Elizabeth’s power and how did he even obtain the technology to open a tear between timelines without having a daughter of his own?

26 Responses to “The hole in the story – Bioshock Infinite Spoiler Chat”

The Lutece twins brought him over. They show loading him into the row boat, and how his memories were shifting/adapting to make sense of existing in a different universe (just like the nose bleeds). They did it to tie up their own "mess" in creating the dimensional machine in the first place.

The Luteces also made the original tear machine. They theorized that Elizabeth being from a different universe might be why she developed her powers.

Yeah, the tear where she lost her finger was spectacularly circular, which was a great indicator that it wasn't "natural". That still doesn't explain how they knew of Elizabeth's powers. She's powerful on multiple timelines … I'm still confused.

Well, the Luteces created the original tear machine, so it stands to reason that the Booker DeWitt timeline was not necessarily the first one they explored.

It was Comstock himself who was actually sterile, not Lady Comstock, as a result of overexposure to the tears. Given that he was prophesying about the lamb and the seed of the prophet and all that, it's not hard to imagine him using Rosalind Lutece (especially given her success in finding the male version of herself in another timeline, aka Robert) to go looking for an alternate timeline of himself where he DID have a child (which would be the only way he could get a child of his blood) so that his prophesy could come true.

So they snatch Elizabeth, not for her powers but because she's blood of the Prophet, etc etc, and she develops the powers as a result of being brought to another universe, which leads to the necessity of the siphon to dampen her powers, which is why when it's destroyed she gets so crazy powerful.

Also, I believe it's the fact that her finger was severed that grants her powers because she exists across dimensions. There's a Voxaphone where Rosalind Lutece talks about the source of her powers and how the universe doesn't like to "mix its peas with its porridge," or something like that.

Maybe their machine can detect where tears are going to be and somehow Elizabeth was detected. Kind of seems like Doctor Who episodes where he comes across people multiple times and knows they must be important.

If he was also Comstock how come nobody else tied the two together. The army guy from Wounded Knee would have known him as both right?

I loved the ending and how they tied it back in with the original Bioshock.

When Comstock went back to get Elizabeth, he did it b/c he needed an heir to take over Colombia. She is the only "child" that is related to him b/c he is fertile. Once he got here, the Lutece twins (which I dont think are really twins) started experimenting on her. That is how she developed powers. The Lutece twins were betrayed by Comstock and know they have set out to help Booker get his daughter back.

The Luteces call themselves twins, but Robert is actually an alternate version of Rosalind. When she was experimenting with her Lutece Field (that allows Columbia to float), she realized that by turning it off and on, she could communicate with alternate realities. Someone responded to her, they eventually figure out it was 'her', but in a universe where she was male. When she created the tear machine, she brought him over and to explain it away to the public, called him her brother.

Steve and Ruby did a magnificent job explaining it. Too bad it was laid out as well in the game itself. Of course, with so much going on — and the fact that I only collected about 70 (out of 80) of those recordings, it's no doubt I missed things. Even things that are implied and not explicitly explained.

Yeah, a lot of the backstory/theory/etc was explained in the voxaphones, so if you missed any of the crucial ones, I can see how you'd be left with questions. I have to go back and get a few, myself, but I seem to have gotten most of the plot-important ones.

Comstock didn't know of Elizabeth's powers when they took her. What happened was the Lutece twins created this machine which could create tears. Comstock had been using that technology and as a result it had rendered him sterile. Because the Luteces caused his sterility, he made them help him find a Booker in a different timeline with a child. Comstock wanted a child but he wanted one from his bloodline, to keep the bloodline pure.

No one knew of Elizabeth's powers until she was much older. That's why they had to create the siphon. Comstock didn't care about that. All he wanted was a daughter from his bloodline.

Ok, story I got mostly. But why do you have the choice of Bird or Cage necklace. To what result? I expected a choice/effect. I picked bird, my son picked Cage. Have not seen any difference yet.
Also the lighthouses at the end. I tried bot choices. On straight. One to the right. Should have been a different world. Correct?
Just some points I had. Still thoroughly enjoyed the game.

I saw a post of someone claiming that the nearest Elizabeth/Booker pair that you see in the land of lighthouses "made" the opposite choices as you. Meaning, Elizabeth has the opposite necklace and Booker may or may not have his hand bandaged, depending on if you drew your gun or got stabbed. Also, I think the minor "choices" play into the "constants and variables" thing and are really just allusions to player choice.

You can delete this and the comment being replied to. I wrote the post, refreshed to see if anyone else had commented yet, didn't see my post and thought that I refreshed before it went thru so rewrote it. I didn't realize they were being moderated. Also I used the wrong allusion/illusion the first time. I know, how embarrassing!

This. It's primarily just a personal choice designed to play into the "constants and variables" thing in the game. The necklace choice as well as the choice at the ticket booth resulting in the bandaged (or not) hand are mostly aesthetic. Same with the lighthouses. They're more for effect than any actual story differences.

I saw a post claiming that the Booker/Elizabeth pair that is closest to you in the land of the lighthouses mirrors the opposite of your choices. Meaning, Elizabeth wears the opposite necklace and Booker may or may not have his hand wrapped in a bloody bandage. Not sure if this is true, but I think the "choices" just play into the whole "constants and variables" thing and are really just an illusion of player choice.

Also, when booker kills Comstock. It seemed very abrupt. Rage induced? Or done to protect story?
Also
Any thoughts on DLC content? Will we continue from after credits? Or mid story, different dimension, or will the Necklace choice come into play?

If you want to get deep, you could say that Booker recognized his alternate self subconsciously and acted on that, idk. It didn't stand out as particularly abrupt to me given what Booker and Elizabeth had had to deal with throughout the game.

Yeah, the scene where he kills Comstock didn't really resonate with me. I didn't really want him to. I wanted to find out what he meant by me knowing how half of her finger was missing and would have listened to Elizabeth's pleas. They could have given us the choice and, if he needed to die, have him suicide under the premise of trying to show Elizabeth how dedicated he was to his mission and how she needed to follow in his footsteps. May have been a bit cliche though.

As for DLC, they're planning 3 expansions of sorts (at least that's what's covered in the season pass) and Ken Levine claims they started a week or so after the game went gold. No other details have been given regarding content, expected release timeframe, or anything. All of this has been taken from Levine's twitter.

I remember the choices info. And there are no choices that shape the story that I can tell like the original Bioshock. Would have like to seen it make an impact in the story. However ut leaves room for some deep DLC storylined.

So, if I'm understanding your theories correctly, are we saying that we were playing as a Booker that never became Comstock? Why didn't he remember having a daughter? And why did Lady Comstock go crazy and start screaming things like "get it out of me!"? They alluded to the fact that Lady Comstock was pregnant for one week and then Elizabeth was born. Additionally, if Comstock was Booker *after* the battle at Wounded Knee, how did they guy in the exhibit (don't remember his name) not know it was Booker as he kept saying that "Comstock never saw battle in his life!".